United Cup: Tsitsipas storms past Dimitrov in thriller to hand Greece 2-0 lead

Perth [Australia], December 29 (ANI): The inaugural United Cup began on Thursday in Perth with a nail-biting match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov in Perth.
Team Greece's star player Tsitsipas, though, persevered to secure victory at RAC Arena, defeating his opponent 4-6, 6-2, 7-6(4) to give his country a 2-0 lead in the Group A match.
"[There was] a lot of drama. Both of us I think were serving extremely well during the course of the entire match. There weren't a lot of moments that I felt like I could do something except the second set, which went really smoothly from my side," said Tsitsipas in Team Greece's post-match press conference as quoted by atptour.com.
Tsitsipas, the ATP World No 4 from Greece, battled Dimitrov to a first-set victory against each other throughout the course of two hours and ten minutes of play. Tsitsipas surged to the second set after finding his range and his huge serve ultimately proved pivotal in the dying moments as he completed a thrilling victory in the deciding set tie-break.
"Grigor committed an unforced error from the first point of the tiebreaker," said Tsitsipas, adding, "I knew that this was my moment to really go for it. I tried to suppress all emotions. I tried to stay within the moment, let any negative thoughts out of my head, and I continued and cruised from that point onwards."
The 24-year-old achieved his 250th victory at the tour level. In the final set, where Dimitrov's restrained aggression created three break points, including two when behind 3-4, the Greek displayed exemplary composure under pressure. Tsitsipas extended his ATP Head2Head record against Dimitrov to 6-1 by saving them all before sprinting to what turned out to be an unstoppable 5/2 advantage in the tie-break.
After Despina Papamichail overcame Isabella Shinikova in the first three-set match in United Cup history, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, in two hours and 19 minutes, the victory gave Team Greece a 2-0 lead.
After triumphing 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) in an ITF W60 competition at Monastir in October, Papamichail ousted Shinikova from a set down twice in the previous three months.
At first, Shinikova's superior shot strength prevailed. The 31-year-old established an early 3-1 advantage and held off Papamichail's comeback attempt to survive eight deuces and regain the lead for 4-2.
But when Papamichail fell behind 2-1 in the second set, his tenacity came through. The Greek player started to rack up a tonne of victories, with her backhand standing out in particular, and she produced a nearly faultless line of play to tie the match.
Prior to the third set, Shinikova had to have her left leg strapped, and when play resumed, it was clear that she was having trouble serving. The Bulgarian, who is ranked No. 381, was able to make an early break once more but was unable to maintain the rally tolerance needed to get past Papamichail. Shinikova's problems were made worse by cramps in her racquet hand midway through the set, and Papamichail easily won the next six games.
"I'm playing with a really strong team. Maria [Sakkari] is a big example for me, so the least I could do was fight my heart out," said Papamichail as quoted by atptour.com. (ANI)